It starts with a goal. For Fall River’s Ellie Lancaster it starts in goal.
“I want to wear a Canadian flag on my chest and play for my country,” said Lancaster, a 15-year-old soccer goalkeeper who’s part of the nationwide Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO Academy system.
The Whitecaps’ academy system is a coast-to-coast network of centres (in eight provinces and two territories) which identifies young talent and, according to its website, provides a pathway to professional soccer, scholarships and Canadian national teams.
Seven different players from the academy, including Lancaster, will be spotlighted in a one-minute video which highlights their story in their home setting.
On Saturday, the Whitecaps released the video featuring Lancaster.
“This is like a stepping stone for me,” said Lancaster, who’s been involved with the Whitecaps' Nova Scotia academy for nearly four years. “It gives me another opportunity to help me get to where I want to be, which is playing for the national team.”
The Whitecaps are one of three Major League Soccer franchises based in Canada.
When Lancaster was 11, she was asked to help out with a local girls’ camp organized by the MLS club. She was hooked.
In 2017, she was invited to a week-long combine hosted by the Whitecaps in Vancouver and has become a mainstay ever since.
“I’ve been to five camps in Vancouver with the Whitecaps,” Lancaster recalled. “I would practise and play games for the week with the teams out there. They’re competitive and extremely fun.
“It basically started with that girls’ camp. They asked me to join the program and I’ve been with it ever since. I’ve had so many opportunities with it that I could never have dreamed of.
“It’s amazing being partnered with an MLS team at the opposite end of the country. But even being out here in Nova Scotia, where it’s small and so far away, we are still connected to the high-level team. It’s so cool.”
Some of the notable names to come out of the academy system include Edmonton’s Alphonso Davies and Jordyn Huitema of Chilliwack, B.C.
Davies was the 2019–20 Bundesliga rookie of the season for the UEFA champion Bayern Munich. Huitema, a forward with Paris Saint-Germain’s Division 1 women's club and a member of the national team, scored a tournament-high seven goals for Canada at last February’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
Come January, Lancaster will practise and train with the academy’s boys’ side. She said “the competitiveness that the boys bring is at such a different level which I haven’t seen before.”
“I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to practise with them and get that high-level training,” said Lancaster, who had practised with the boys on a couple of occasions last year.
“It’s so much fun. They want to win at everything, even at practice or just a mini game. They’ll push each other to the fullest and not settle for anything less than what they expect. I like that competitiveness and edge. I feel like I’m being pushed with the boys. The girls are fun and everything but the boys make me step it up even further.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has limited training and practices to three sessions a week, down from five. The Whitecaps also offer a virtual academy.
But Lancaster, who’s also a keeper with Suburban FC’s under-15 AAA club, remains as busy as always.
While she excels at soccer, she’s a natural when it comes to basketball. The Grade 11 student at Lockview High School is a starting forward with the Dragons. Her mother – Lori (Knickle) Lancaster – is Lockview’s head coach. Lori Lancaster, who was recently named the chef de mission for Nova Scotia at the 2021 Canada Games, played five Atlantic university seasons at UPEI and was an assistant coach with the Panthers and Dalhousie Tigers.
The younger Lancaster has used her five-foot-10 frame to her advantage on both the hardcourt and soccer pitch. Being taller than most was how she became a full-time goalkeeper.
“My height is a big advantage,” Lancaster said. “I’m tall for my age and was never the best playing out. One game, my coach decided to put me in nets because our keeper didn’t show. It ended up being the best decision and I became a pretty good goalkeeper.”
